


Diamonds in the Brush

by panpass



Series: MCYT Pokemon Trainer AU [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Pokemon, Slight Hurt/Comfort, it's a lot of george and clay arguing whoops, its a pokemon who's hurt tho, no beta we die like men, okay serious tags, sapnap-centric, they're minors in this one this is entirely platonic hnnnnn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27554617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panpass/pseuds/panpass
Summary: after convincing george to let them camp outside rather than stay at the pokemon center, sapnap and dream discover something rather interesting.[lowercase intentional; pokemon trainer au]
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), None
Series: MCYT Pokemon Trainer AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010667
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In this one-shot:  
> \- George is 17, Dream is 14, and Sapnap is 13.  
> \- George’s Current Team: Noibat, Snom  
> \- Dream’s Current Team: Zorua, Mimikyu  
> \- Sapnap’s Current Team: Chimchar

The trio had made it to Nacrene with very little difficulty - a surprising fact when considering Dream and Sapnap’s reckless and rowdy natures. 

Nick’s gaze shifted around as they neared the city, taking notice of little movements that rustled the bushes out of the corner of his eye and small, glowing spheres that seemed to follow the group as they passed by. He found himself lost in the environment, distracted by everything he saw--the people, pokemon, and the landscapes. The thirteen-year-old had lived in Unova since he was eight, and yet he still wasn’t quite used to the serenity of her routes. 

Route 3 was one of the shorter ones, he knew, with the Daycare providing travelers with a much-appreciated resting point. A few of the older kids had even challenged the trio to battles, though George had refused. Sapnap and Dream hadn’t though, and it was quite safe to say that those kids wouldn’t be battling random strangers again for a few days.

Despite taking a few heavy hits, Sapnap’s partner - Storm - kept up well, a grin split across his face as he messed around with Dream’s Zorua. Sapnap couldn’t help but to grin at the sight of his energetic partner, almost snickering as Storm managed to tackle Patches to the ground.    
  
Before he could though, Sapnap found himself walking face first into the form in front of him, letting out an ‘oomph’ and stumbling back a bit. His head snapped forward, letting out a short whine of complaint, ready to chew out whichever of his friends had stopped so abruptly right in front of him, though he found himself frozen as he caught sight of the city in front of them. Nacrene City. 

From the stuff he’d seen online, it was a quaint little city - nothing like Castelia, where Dream came from, but busier than Solaceon Town where Nick had lived until he’d moved to Unova. There were still about a dozen yards from the actual entrance to the city, but that was mostly because Dream wasn’t letting George past him to get  _ into _ the city. Sapnap’s brows scrunched a bit in confusion, before he began listening to his best friend's squabble. 

“ _ Cmon _ George.” He began with a short huff. “We stayed at the Center in Striaton. You  _ promised. _ ” The fourteen-year-old’s mouth and nose were covered by a white cloth of sorts, but Sapnap could hear the frown in his tone. He’d been wearing it since Nick had known him, and while he’d originally found it odd, the times he saw Dream without it were even stranger. He remembered the day he’d asked him about it. They’d only known each other for a month, but he’d asked if Dream was a germaphobe. The other boy hadn’t answered, and - being the annoying eight-year-old he was at the time - had continued to pester him. Dream had gotten upset and left the younger boy alone, the pair not speaking for nearly a week before Sapnap had gone running back to apologize. Turns out, Dream had missed him too, and the pair talked nonstop for almost twelve hours, attached at the hip even more so than before. 

Now Sapnap knew that Dream just didn’t like showing his face. He wasn’t exactly self-conscious, he just preferred keeping it hidden. It wasn’t Sapnap’s place to question him, and he didn’t plan to. 

“Maybe I did, but it was a dumb promise to make.” George grumbled and Sapnap’s gaze shifted to the older male. George stood taller than Sapnap by a few inches yet, the thirteen-year-old not yet having hit his growth-spurt, but Dream had already shot up quite a bit and stood eye-to-eye with the Galarian male. 

“Should’ve thought about that before.” Dream countered, before continuing. “Plus, campings apart of the trainer experience, right Sap?” Both sets of eyes turned to him as he was mentioned and Nick paled a bit at the attention. Sure, the normally boisterous male was always  _ happy _ to be loud and playful most of the time, but he’d never been the best with sudden attention. 

“Uh…” He blanked on what to say for a few moments, the eyes of his friends boring into his very soul as he tried to come up with an answer. He could see where each was coming from, truthfully, but he had to agree with Dream. They’d both been terribly disappointed when George had refused to allow them to camp out in the Dreamyard outside Striaton City. Collecting his thoughts, decision made, Sapnap opened his mouth again to speak… but the other two were already back to arguing, having grown impatient with waiting for Sapnap’s response and instead opting to continue their argument without his input. 

The dark-haired male frowned a bit in response to that, gaze shifting between the two as they continued on. By now Storm and Patches had taken notice of the argument and stood beside Sapnap, one on either side, as the three stood on the sidelines. The same couldn’t be said for Luna, George’s  _ previously _ asleep Noibat, who now had an irritable expression on her face as George held her in his arms, close to his chest. 

“We’re already here, let’s just go to the Center! Why stay out here in this heat when we can just stay in a  _ nice _ ,  _ free _ , room for the night?” 

“Cause that’s boring!” Dream wrinkled his nose as he practically spat out the word ‘boring’, as though even saying it left a sour tone in his mouth. “And again, you’re the one who promised we could camp out before the next city!”

George let out a scoff, as though offended. “How was I supposed to know how little distance there was from the Daycare to here? Half a day? I figured we’d still be in the middle of a forest right now!” 

Dream crossed his arms. “That’s your own fault.”

“I’m not from around here! How would I have -”

“ _ Take half a minute to look at a map - _ ”

“Why don’t we just do both?” The words left Nick’s mouth before he could stop them, and he quickly clamped his jaw shut. The two older teens froze after he spoke, and for a moment the youngest of the trio was afraid they’d just continue arguing as though he’d never spoken. They didn’t, however, and Dream’s gaze shifted over to Sapnap, inquizitive. 

“What do you mean, ‘do both’?” Dream’s eyebrows furrowed, displaying his confusion. That was another thing: even with his mouth covered, Dream was still a rather expressive individual, whether he meant to be or not.

George looked over to him as well, and Nick nearly hesitated, before speaking. “Like, we’re gonna be here for multiple days. Why not camp out for a few nights, then stay at the Center for the last few nights?” 

The pair seemed to each consider, before George opened his mouth. 

“I don’t -” 

“Well  _ I _ think it’s a great idea.” Dream moved to Sapnap’s side, putting an arm around the shorter boy’s shoulders before continuing, “and that makes it two vs. one. We win.” The male hummed, looking a bit pleased with himself. 

George only narrowed his eyes, taking a moment to let out a heavy sigh, before speaking. “I was  _ going _ to say that I don’t think that’s a bad idea, but I do have to head into the city for a bit, whether you two want to come or not.” He offered Dream a pointed look, who extracted his arm from Sapnap’s shoulder in order to hold his hands up in mock defense. George looked back to Sapnap, rolling his eyes at Dream’s display. “If you guys want to camp out here though,  _ you two _ can take the time to set it up.” The seventeen-year-old removed one of his arms from it’s clutch on Luna - the Noibat seeming to relax a bit as the argument ended - and he slipped off the bag that was on his shoulder. “Find a campsite and message me where it is on your transceivers. Get it set up, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” The pale male’s gaze shifted between the two younger boys, and he looked almost hesitant to actually leave them on their own, likely due to their own immaturity and - though he’d never admit it - Sapnap’s surprising tendency to ‘accidentally’ light things on fire. 

Dream had only proceeded to smile and nod, assuring George that they’d get everything set up, before he grabbed the bag George had left and practically bolted into the forest to their right, Patches hot on his heels. The younger male cursed quietly, hurrying after the pair. Right before he began to push through the bushes, Storm grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled himself onto Nick’s right shoulder, the young trainer smiling a little at his partner before continuing to follow the boy in front of him. 

Or, well, he  _ tried _ to follow the boy in front of him, though it was nearly impossible. He was virtually silent, and if it weren’t for Patches’s black fur and short legs, Sap was positive he would’ve lost him. 

By the time Dream stopped, Sapnap was out of breath, leaning forward a bit to grip his knees and recover. Dream seemed barely affected by their near-sprint through the woods - something Sapnap greatly envied - though he could see the beads of sweat already dotting his forehead. 

“Here looks good.” The Unovan decided, his gaze shifting over the relatively empty clearing. Sapnap too looked it over, and he had to agree. It was almost a perfect size for their trio, easily able to hold their three tents with room to spare. Sapnap looked back to Dream. Had he known this was here? How had he found such a perfect clearing so fast?

He didn’t bother asking though, instead sliding his own pack off of his shoulders and kneeling down beside it, pulling out his tent. Storm hopped off his shoulder as he did, using the fact that Patches was distracted by the new areas scents to ambush her, the poor Zorua letting out a yelp as the Chimchar tackled her. Sapnap chuckled, Dream’s gaze following the pair as well. As they stopped rolling, Patches ended up on the bottom, her expression one of both offense and surprise. The pair couldn’t help it, and within moments both were on the ground. Sapnap let out a loud laugh, while Dream began wheezing uncontrollably. Anyone else would probably be concerned by the tea-kettle like sounds the fourteen-year-old somehow managed to make, but Sapnap was used to it at this point, and it only made his laugh harder. 

By the time the pair recovered, both had tears in their eyes. Something about the offended and betrayed on the Zorua’s surprised face was too funny to the trainers. 

As the Pokemon set to rolling around once more, Sapnap and Dream got to work. It didn’t take the pair too long to set up. They’d set up tents like these plenty of times in Sapnap’s backyard, before they’d started their journey, but wanted to act like they had. It was almost funny; how it felt like so much had changed, yet so little actually had. 

By the time they’d finished, the sun was beginning to fall beneath the trees, the sky turning into a beautiful swirl of oranges and pinks, and George was still nowhere in sight. Sapnap watched it, humming softly, as Dream fashioned the final clasp on George’s tent. Once completed, the taller male moved to Sapnap’s side, settling down beside him. 

They sat there for a few minutes, silently watching the sunset and their wrestling Pokemon partners, the Chimchar and Zorua rolling into a bush as the continued play-fighting. By now Dream had released Joy, the Mimikyu relaxing in his lap. Dream himself looked rather content, and Sapnap felt the same, a warm sensation spreading throughout his body. This was nice. For all the chaos they caused and all the fun they had, the thirteen-year-old appreciated these moments where they could just relax. 

He lay back in the grass, hands resting on his stomach, and closed his eyes. 

They shot back open as a familiar shrill yelp filled the clearing. Dream was already on his feet, Joy having hopped off his lap in surprise. Both trainer’s recognized Patches’s pained cry, and before Sapnap could even get back to his feet, Dream was already half-way across the clearing. Nick jogged after him once he’d regained his footing, Dream having already vanished into the bushes their partners had rolled into a minute before. 

“Patches?!” Dream called out, voice laced with concern. Nick followed, looking around for both Patches and his own Pokemon.    
  


“Patches? Storm?” Nick echoed. Joy hadn’t been able to to quite keep up with Dream originally, and was now practically clinging to Sapnap’s right leg. Therefore, Dream was able to come across the pair first, Nick close behind. Storm stood in front of Patches, who was bleeding a bit from a bite mark on her right foreleg. Their adversaries were half-concealed by the bush they crouched inside. Though the species wasn’t native to Sinnoh, Nick would have to live under a rock to not recognize that they were Eevees. There were two of them, one holding a stance similar to Storm’s own, shielding the other Eevee from harm. 

As the trainer’s approached it shifted uneasily, suddenly now being completely outnumbered and outmatched. The Eevee growled lowly, shifting on his paws, and Sapnap was able to see the Eevee being protected. It looked somewhat sickly, it’s fur a faded color, though not to the same extent that it could be considered a ‘shiny’, as Pokemon with abnormal coloring were often referred to. It’s eyes were half-closed, and though it looked frightened, it’s eyes were a bit glazed over and dazed. 

Dream was quick to shoot forward, scooping up Patches and pulling her close to his chest, taking a few moments to inspect the wound to her forearm before looking back to the Eevees, a wary glint in his eyes. 

Nick on the other hand, watching as Storm relaxed a bit, no longer having to protect his friend. The moment the Eevee growled again though, the Chimchar’s gaze shot back to it, and he bared his teeth. 

Before he could think over his own actions, Sapnap sat down beside his Pokemon, eyes locked on the Eevees. “Hey.” His voice was soft, surprisingly so, and he could feel all eyes on him once more. Yeah, he was normally loud and rambunctious, and he was perfectly content with being so around his friends, but even he could tell: this was a situation where he needed to be the opposite. His impulsive decisions had gotten him here - staring down an angry Eevee that had just taken a chunk out of Patches - and he was quite sure that if he tried to rely on those impulses now, the Zorua wouldn’t be the only one. 

“Sapnap what -” Dream cut off as Nick looked back at him, raising a finger to his lips in a ‘shh’ signal, before looking back to the Eevee. It still looked incredibly standoffish, but it seemed like it was focusing primarily on Sapnap now. It’s eyes glittered warningly - not dangerously, which Nick found to be relieving. 

“I think we can help your friend.” Nick spoke slowly, hoping to avoid aggravating the Eevee further. “We know some people who can make him feel better. That sound good?” Sapnap slowly began to reach out, extending his right hand towards the Eevee in a non-threatening gesture. It’s gaze shifted between Sapnap’s face and hand for a few moments, and just before Sapnap’s fingers would’ve brushed against it’s fur it suddenly moved. 

It’s teeth closed around the skin between Sapnap’s thumb and forefinger. 

Dream almost jumped into action, stopped only by Nick shaking his head, otherwise completely frozen. Storm looked about ready to dropkick the smaller Pokemon, though Sapnap rested his other hand carefully on his head in a calming gesture. 

The teeth hadn’t broken the skin, and it was a relatively light grip. Was the Eevee trying to test him, or something along those lines? Sapnap’s gaze never strayed from the Eevee’s, person and Pokemon staring at one another for what felt like an hour, before the Eevee gingerly let go, taking half a step back and revealing their sick friend. 

Moving slowly once again, Sapnap carefully moved forward, picking up the sickly Eevee. The protector’s fur puffed up at the movement and the action, though it seemed to relax a bit as Sapnap carefully stood. It used its claws to climb up Nick’s pant leg, earning a grunt from the trainer, before perching on his shoulder, as though keeping watch to ensure that nothing would happen to it’s friend, whether because of Sapnap or some other cause. 

Without another world, Sapnap led what felt like a small procession back through the bushes and into the clearing. Even before they exited the bushes the pair could hear the rapid steps of someone pacing back and forth, accompanied by the occasional crinkling sound of the tent flaps. Dream stepped ahead of Sapnap, making a bit of a path to make it easier as the group stepped out into the clearing. 

A rather startled George stood in the clearing, his glasses disheveled where they rested on the top of his head, and Sapnap could only offer him an embarrased smile and chuckle. 

“Guess we have to stay at the Pokemon Center after all.”


	2. Update

Hey y'all. This isn't a chapter - just letting you know that all the one-shots are just gonna be put into the main book rather than in separate books. That includes this one, which will be removed soon!

I posted a new one tonight - it follows Ranboo as he begins his journey! Go check it out if you're interested! Hope to see you there ^^

**Author's Note:**

> word count: 2,936  
> character count: 16,565  
> fucks given: 0 its two am and this unedited wooooooo
> 
> anyway, this was originally gonna have a big battle in the middle with like, dream and sap battling off some patrats and shit, but i was like "nahhh, sapnap thought process gO" and then this came out. it's two am and i wrote this all in one sitting, but i think it came out okay so we're gonna go with it. 
> 
> remember that if you have any questions, feel free to comment below! i'm also accepting requests/prompts/ideas! for a complete list of characters and information, go and check out the official little au book i made for this. 
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed! let me know what you think! constructive criticism is always welcome!


End file.
